Daily Digest: Oct. 3

Our daily digest is a mid-day update on the stories we’re following in Texas politics today. Here’s what we’re working on:

Supreme Court Split over Partisan Redistricting:

The U.S. Supreme Court could literally be taking politics back to the drawing board.

The High Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case out of Wisconsin involving partisan gerrymandering — the much-criticized practice of drawing up legislative boundaries to benefit the political party in power.

A decision by the court next year could trigger legal challenges to Congressional maps across the country, including Texas, which is dealing with its own redistricting battle.

Our Washington DC bureau reporter Alberto Pimienta was in the courtroom Tuesday morning and will join us from DC with the latest at 7pm.

DACA Deal:

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have started working on a deal for “Dreamers.” A Senate committee is trying to come up with a solution after President Trump announced plans to end a program protecting the young immigrants.

It has granted temporary work permits and deportation protections for nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the US as children and living here illegally. That includes roughly 124,000 in Texas.

Grassley says a plan has to include “robust border security” but not a border wall.

House GOP Proposes CHIP Extension:

House Republicans are proposing a 5-year extension for a popular program that provides health insurance to almost 400,000 Texans.

It comes three days after federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, expired. CHIP provides low-cost health insurance for children from low and middle income families.

The new proposal would increase Medicare premiums on high-earning people and take other steps to pay for extending the program. The measure also includes an additional one billion for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says there are no plans for the House to act soon on a bill that would ease regulations on gun silencers.

Ryan was pressed on the issue Tuesday after the mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night.

The Republican-led Congress has been pushing measures to loosen gun restrictions, including the silencer bill and one to allow people with concealed-carry permits to carry across state lines.

Democrats are now seizing on the violence in Nevada to demand tougher gun restrictions.

Meanwhile, the Austin City Limits music festival is offering refunds to customers worried about their safety following the shooting in Las Vegas.

The option was not publicly announced and so far hasn’t been posted on the official website or social media accounts.

But we called Front Gate Tickets, the ticket exchange, and were told anyone feeling uncomfortable after the attack could get their money back. The original purchaser needs to call and have their order information ready.

Trump in Puerto Rico:

President Donald Trump compared Hurricane Maria’s death toll to that of the lives lost during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The president toured the damage in Puerto Rico today. He told officials there they should be “very proud” hundreds of people didn’t die during the hurricane as they did in a quote “real catastrophe like Katrina.”

We’ll have more on the President’s visit amid the criticism his administration isn’t doing enough to help the people there on tonight’s show.

Let’s keep the conversation going on our political blog! Capital Roundup is an extension of the interviews, debates, analysis and commentary seen on our nightly political show, Capital Tonight. We invite you to join the discussion.

Capital Tonight airs live every night at 7 p.m. with a replay at 11 p.m.